4456519 L/Cpl John Richardi, 6th Bn, Durham Light Infantry

4456519 L/Cpl John Richardi of the 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry was one of 302 British Army soldiers to die on this day - 10th September - in 1944. He was 30 years old, had been born in north wet London and was living in London when he enlisted.

John Richardi is buried in Geel War Cemetery in Belgium. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives more detail about the likely events surrounding John's death:

"In the early part of September 1944, Geel was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting encountered by Commonwealth troops since they had left Normandy. The 50th (Northumbrian) Division and the 15th Scottish Division were both involved here in the forcing of crossings of the Albert Canal and the Meuse-Escaut Canal, necessary for the advance into Holland. Some of the casualties they suffered were originally buried in a meadow near the centre of the commune, and some in the St. Dymphna civil cemetery; these graves were later moved into Geel War Cemetery. The cemetery contains 400 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, six of them unidentified."

The War Graves Photographic Project has a photo of John Richardi's grave HERE.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (1939-1945 Roll of Honour)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The War Graves Photographic Project